| Becker Automatic Cannon Rounds |
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| Becker Automatic Cannon rounds. The 20mm Becker Cannon (2cm Flugzeug-Maschinen-Kanone. Becker-Type 2-1045) was experimentally mounted by the Imperial German Air Service for the first time in 1915 on a Gotha bomber. By the end of the war the Becker Cannon had been mounted with some success on AEG GIV bombers, Friedrichshaven GIIIa bombers and Gotha GIV bombers. They were also mounted with some success on armoured aircraft such as the Albatros GI. At least two Becker Cannons were mounted on Zeppelins. Capable of 400 rounds per minute, the German bomber crews would pump rounds into Allied trenches when returning from missions. |
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The entire round is 146mm long with the projectile being 76mm in length. The diameter of the projectile at the base is 21mm (driving band) and the casing at the base is 22mm at the widest point. The projectile is machined-steel and marked with what appears to be a crown-proof, "M, 4 18". The sharply tapered nose identifies this as an Armour-Piercing round. The casing is brass and the head stamp is clearly marked "Sp 3 18 Av Ku" (March 1918). | |
| The entire round is 145mm long with the projectile being 75mm in length. The diameter of the projectile at the base is 21mm (driving band) and the casing at the base is 22mm at the widest point. The projectile is machined-steel and marked with what appears to be a crown-proof, "SV, 5 17". The squared off nose identifies this as an incendiary round. The casing is brass and the head stamp is clearly marked "Sp 61 P & S 3 5 17" (03 May 1917). |  |
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There are only three surviving Becker cannons, one at the Bavarian Army Museum, Ingolstadt, one in France from a shot-down AEG G1, and one in Washington USA. |
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| 2cm Flugzeug-Maschinen-Kanone Becker-Type 2-1045 mounted on a Friedrichshaven GIIIa bomber in 1918.
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